inside the case: key switches

i've been procrastinating on working on the inside of the case, mostly because it's dealing with stuff i've never done before (circuits and soldering, etc.), but it's time to crack the nut open. naturally the need for space for everything will dictate what i can put in and where. in particular, i think i won't have enough space for potentiometers on the front of the case, at least not with how countersunk i'd like them to be. (well there may be pots with shorter knobs, i may revisit.) i may stick a potentiometer on the back instead (!). and i may go back to having a joystick on the front, but one with a lower height profile so i can squeeze it in.

i've been starting the inside work by adding switches for the keyboard. i offset them by the center of the attachment point near the back, and they turned out to be pretty evenly aligned. while i could make them perfectly aligned, i don't think it's necessary. i would like roughly the same force required to push the naturals and accidentals, so i'm thinking i may need to move the natural switches down compared to the accidentals; this may also help with making it easier to solder (??). here's a view from the back, so you can see how well aligned they are!

you'll notice i'm also experimenting with countersinking the keyboard in for "dimension". this will do a few things. it will make it easy to add in a nut and bolt to clamp the keyboard to the top of the case. it will increase the thickness of the device but potentially make it more pocketable -- i.e., less friction with accidentals popping out. (i'm currently keeping a little bit of accidental height outside of the enclosure, though -- we'll see how it changes over time!)